Diagnosis. Bothriechis guifarroi can be distinguished from the other members of the genus Bothriechis as follows (B. guifarroi features indicated first, those for species compared next): B. aurifer (distributed at moderate and intermediate elevations from extreme east-central Chiapas, Mexico, to east-central Guatemala) — adult color pattern (green vs. black-bordered yellow blotches on green background and prominent black postocular stripe) and juvenile color pattern (green with pale blue blotches or brown with pale paraventral stripe and dark dorsal blotches vs. pale lime green with black-bordered yellow blotches); B. bicolor (occurring marginally at low upward to intermediate elevations from southeastern Chiapas, Mexico, to south-central Guatemala) — number of dorsal scales at midbody (19 vs. 21) and condition of prelacunal and second supralabial scales (fused vs. separate); B. lateralis (moderate to marginally high elevations from northwestern Costa Rica to western Panama) — number of dorsal scale rows at midbody (19 vs. modal number of 23), adult color pattern (green vs. green with pale paravertebral bars and paraventral stripe), and juvenile color pattern (bi-morph pattern of green with blue dorsal blotching or brown with pale paraventral stripe and short unicolor dark blotches vs. uni-morph pattern of brown ground color with pale paraventral stripe and short bicolor dark and pale blotches); B. marchi (found marginally at low elevations up to intermediate elevations in northwestern Honduras and adjacent Guatemala) — condition of prelacunal and second supralabial scales (fused vs. separate), number of subcaudals in females (60–63 vs. 46–57); B. nigroviridis (moderate to intermediate elevations from north-central Costa Rica to west-central Panama) — adult color pattern (patternless green vs. green with very heavy black mottling), juvenile color pattern (green with pale blue blotches or brown with pale paraventral stripe and a series of short darker dorsal blotches vs. green with heavy black mottling), iris color (pale green, pale gray, or pale tan vs. almost black), numbers of ventral scales in both sexes (162–166 and 158–166 vs. 143–158 and 134–158), numbers of subcaudal in both sexes (60–68 and 60–63 vs. 49–56 and 44–58), and condition of prelacunal and second supralabial scales (fused vs. separate); B. rowleyi (moderate to intermediate elevations from extreme southeastern Oaxaca to northwestern Chiapas, Mexico) — condition of prelacunal and second supralabial scales (fused vs. almost always separate), iris color (pale green, pale gray, or pale tan vs. yellow), and juvenile color pattern (green with pale blue blotches or brown with pale paraventral stripe and a series of short darker dorsal blotches vs. pale yellowish green with brown or purple dorsal blotches); B. schlegelii (low to intermediate elevations from northwestern Chiapas, Mexico, southward through Central America and into northwestern South America as far as extreme western Venezuela and extreme northern Peru) — lack of superciliary scales in the former and their presence in the latter, number of suprala- bials (10–12, usually 10 vs. 7–10, usually 8), number of midbody dorsal scale rows (19 vs. 21–25, usually 23), and adult color pattern (green vs. extremely variable color and pattern involving ground color of yellow, pink, brown, gray, or green and dorsal blotching of a sizable array of colors, but sometimes absent; contrasting postocular stripe absent vs. present); B. supraciliaris (moderate to intermediate elevations from southwestern Costa Rica to west-central Panama) — lack of superciliary scales in the former and their presence in the latter, number of midbody dorsal scale rows (19 vs. 21–23, usually 23), number of ventral scales in both sexes (162–166 and 158–166 vs. 145–150 and 141–148), number of subcaudal scales in both sexes (60–68 and 60–63 vs. 48–54 and 45–52), and adult color pattern (green vs. extremely variable color and pattern involving ground color of shades of green, brown, or maroon and dorsal blotching of an array of colors contrasting with that of the ground color; contrasting postocular stripe absent vs. present); B. thalassinus (moderate to intermediate eleva- tions from extreme eastern Guatemala and extreme northwestern El Salvador to west- ern Honduras) — number of midbody dorsal scale rows (19 vs. 21–23, usually 21), and condition of prelacunal and second supralabial scales (fused vs. separate).

Comment

Etymology

“The specific name guifarroi is a patronym used to honor our colleague and friend, Honduran environmental leader Mario Guifarro of Olancho. Don Mario fearlessly led grassroots efforts to stop illegal logging in the indigenous Tawahka ter- ritory of eastern Honduras, despite repeated assassination attempts and threats on his own life and those of his compatriots. Don Mario was murdered on 15 September 2007, ironically Honduras’ Independence Day, while leading a mission to demarcate the boundaries of the Tawahka-Asangni Biosphere and stave off further illegal deforestation. On 21 July 2008, the only witness to Mario’s assassination, his son Shamir Guifarro Ramírez, was also murdered, along with Mario’s father-in-law, Henry Arturo Chacón, and mother-in-law, Nelda Ochoa, after they were followed out of the city of Juticalpa by unknown assailants.”

References

McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here